This invention relates generally to mail boxes and more particularly to mail boxes that are arranged to signal the presence of incoming mail that has been deposited therein.
Certain types of mail boxes have been proposed for use in the suburbs or rural areas, where the mail box is typically located some distance from the box holder's residence, to eliminate the necessity of physically checking the mail box to determine if any mail has been deposited by the postman. Those mail boxes have generally employed various signalling mechanisms to visually indicate the presence of incoming mail to the box holder. However, the signalling mechanisms so employed have been relatively complicated and expensive and, moreover, have been unreliable due to their susceptibility to undesired actuation, thus resulting in false indications of the presence of mail. In addition, those mechanisms have typically not been capable of distinguishing between incoming mail placed in the box by the postman and outgoing mail placed in the box by the box holder.
It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to provide a simple, inexpensive, and reliable mail box signalling mechanism for supplying a positive visual indication of the presence of mail deposited by the postman.
It is another object of this invention to provide a mail box signalling mechanism arranged for quick and easy field adaptation to existing conventional mail boxes without interferring with the normal operation thereof.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a mail box signalling mechanism that will not be falsely actuated by or interfere with outgoing mail that has been placed in the mail box for pickup by the postman.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a mail box signalling mechanism that will support outgoing mail in a convenient upright position for easy pickup by the postman.
Other and incidental objects of this invention will become apparent to those persons skilled in the art from an examination of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.